* The arts are alive and well, including the West Virginia Symphony-Parkersburg, the Actors Guild, the Parkersburg Art Center and the Smoot Theatre.

* Culturally diverse food such as Chams Lebanese Cuisine, Mango Latin Bistro and Philippines Best Food have joined restaurants such as Spats, Lui Lui and others. Also “hip new spots” include The Coffee Bar and Parkersburg Brewing Company.

* The Parkersburg Ohio River Trail will connect Point Park to Grand Central Mall. Vienna Bike Trail will have two routes, one connecting all five town parks and the other running from the mall to 60th Street.

* Continued rise in excellence and expansion of institutions such as WVU Medicine-Camden Clark Medical Center, West Virginia University at Parkersburg and Ohio Valley University.

After attending the “Taste of Parkersburg” in June, Brooks offered the following observation.

“Parkersburg is the only city in which I have ever lived that you can pull in five minutes before an event starts and find a parking place one block away,” he said.

Brooks, a 1989 graduate of Parkersburg High School, worked as a physician in Tampa from 2000-2006 and in Charlotte from 2007-2017. He received a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1993 from West Virginia University and a medical degree from West Virginia University School of Medicine in 1997.

“Big cities are very spread out. Parkersburg has everything in one place,” Brooks said.

“People in big cities are transplanted a lot of the time so they have no real pride or commitment to the city as their home. Parkersburg is the exact opposite,” Brooks said.

Brooks, 47, said patients are more respectful and appreciative of his medical care here.

And the pay in his medical field is better in Parkersburg than in larger cities, he said.

Brooks said he likes working for WVU Medicine-Camden Clark Physicians Corp. because it provides more autonomy and less micromanaging than he has experienced with large organizations. His office is at 2012 Garfield Ave., Suite 1 in the Garfield Medical Complex in Parkersburg.

Brooks is an adjunct faculty member at WVU School of Medicine, teaching students and residents, and a member of the adjunct faculty at Ohio University, teaching in the physician’s assistant program.

Brooks helps the Humane Society of Parkersburg and other nonprofit organizations in the community. He hopes to become the PHS wrestling team doctor.

Brooks’ future interests include working on opioid abuse prevention and suicide prevention, both of which he said are “epidemics.”

The only drawback for Brooks of living here is his allergies to the local tree pollen, something that did not affect him in the Florida and North Carolina cities, he said.

“I can always fly to the beach or the city for a vacation and have extra money to spend with the lower cost of living here,” Brooks said of another advantage of living in Wood County.